For The Bulletin of May 14, 2017 THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER From Father Robert No GPS or road map can show us the way to the Father, truth of all that is, the Life that is offered. Only Jesus can. He is our GPS : God s Presence through the Spirit. Thomas and Philip completely miss Jesus point. They are looking for a road map they ask Jesus to show them the way. They haven t grasped what they have encountered all along: Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. When asked how can we know the way? to the Father s house, Jesus does not provide us a road map. Instead, Jesus answer is a surprisingly personal one: I am the way and the truth and life. Here Jesus Himself is equated with risen Life. Believing in Jesus and doing His works is the way to the Father. We today must encounter and come to know Jesus in our daily living, and by so identifying with Him become for others the way, the truth, and the Life. Jesus claim to be the way and the truth and the life lays claims on us: to have faith in Him, to follow Him to the Father, to do the works He does, to be Who He is the way and the truth and the life. With the first disciples we, too, struggle to understand these claims and the implications they have for changing the way we live. Jesus makes clear that the only way to eternal Life is through belief in Him. It seems like such simple, clear directions. Yet we spend our whole lives coming to the kind of believing that truthfully shows us the way. Jesus disclosure about Himself requires, in turn, an equally personal response from us: have faith in me. Easter faith is more than a creed; it is expressed in a relationship with the risen One. The ongoing struggle to believe more deeply is the ongoing struggle to come to know Jesus and become more like Him. This risen Jesus is not elusive; He is encountered in the ministry of the word, in the Breaking of the Bread, in taking care of the needs of others, in allowing God to act in us to build us into a chosen and precious Body of Christ, in our announcing God s praises. The real challenge of today s gospel, then, is to expand our seeing and believing to recognize the many, varied, and surprising ways Jesus comes to us. And to become for others those ways. Jesus says to Thomas, I am the way and the truth and the life. Jesus is the way: He is the path to the Father. Jesus is the truth: He is the revelation of Who God is. Jesus is the life: He is risen Life for all those who believe in Him. Believing is be-living surrendering ourselves to Him in all we are and in all we do. Through Him and with Him and in Him we become the way and the truth and the life. 1
Living The Paschal Mystery Jesus claim that He is the way and the truth and the life is a sweeping one that dares us to see Jesus as everything we need to come to the fullness of risen Life ourselves. The way is not always appealing dying to ourselves, selfgiving for the sake of others. The Good News and truth is that we follow Jesus way in less dramatic, everyday ways. Our simple acts of reaching out to others, alleviating their suffering, or eliminating their need (whatever it might be) is how we follow Jesus way. But more: this is how we ourselves become the way! As we do Jesus works, we become more like Him - we take on His care, His love, His passion for others. As we do His works, we ourselves become the way to the Father for others. No greater work can we do! What will be my response to the Word of God today? Jesus is my way, truth, and life because I am His way, truth, and life when What helps me believe in Jesus is What hinders my believing in Jesus is When I surrender myself to Jesus, my be-living looks like About Liturgy: Easter Lectionary Turning Point The Lectionary is a book of selections from Sacred Scripture to be proclaimed at liturgies not just any random selections, but carefully chosen to serve the Paschal Mystery dynamic of the Liturgical Year. Thus the Lectionary opens up for us the whole mystery of Christ as we walk each year through the events that are the paschal mystery His life, ministry, suffering, death, resurrection, ascension, sending of the Spirit. As we might expect, the first part of the Easter Season Lectionary focuses on Jesus resurrection appearances and captures for us the one part of the meaning of this season. Now, on the Fifth Sunday of Easter the Lectionary alerts us to the fact that this season is now at a turning point. Rather than focus on the risen Christ, the Lectionary focuses on Jesus instructions and prayer for His disciples all this clearly with an eye to Pentecost and the celebration of the coming of the Spirit. With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to take up Jesus saving mission, to continue His ministry, to be His presence for others. Thus, the last part of the Easter season is teaching us how to be good disciples. Another part of the meaning of this season put forward in the Lectionary selections is that the resurrection is more 2
than a glorious event for Jesus. Jesus being raised up from the dead invites us to a new way to be disciples have a personal relationship with Him through shared risen Life. By our discipleship we already share in Jesus risen Life, we already share in the fruits of the resurrection. will be rolled out onto the apron of each fire station and their engine/truck emergency lights turned on for one minute to remember the lives of their fellow firefighters who took their own lives. It is also a powerful way to support their families, friends, fellow firefighters, and loved ones to let them know that we will not forget them. I will be participating in this event at the fire station on Loveridge Road in Pittsburg. You are welcome to be present at a fire station near you to participate in this event. Thank you for your support for our firefighters of ConFire and all firefighters. Today, we honor all mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, godmothers, step-mothers, foster mothers, and all the holy women who nurture and give life! A special blessing will be given at the conclusion of each liturgy asking God s continued blessing upon all these beautiful and holy women. Happy Mother s Day to each one of you! A contribution to the Parish Hall Expansion Fund has been made in your honor. We Remember On Friday evening, May 19 th, at 9:00 p.m., Contra Costa County Fire Stations will observe the annual We Remember event when fire apparatus From St. Peter Martyr School: Dear Father Robert, Thank you for the very generous financial gift of $4,531.70 to our school from the parishioners of St. Ignatius of Antioch. What a tremendous Easter Gift! This support for Catholic Education from your Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday collections, as well as proceeds from the St. Joseph s Dinner, is truly a blessing! The joy and love that is experienced through your Lenten Alms outreach gives witness to the generous spirit at your parish. We are deeply grateful for your financial and spiritual support and honored to be your adopted Catholic School. On behalf of the students, the families, the faculty and staff of our school, I extend our sincere thanks and wish you 3
continued blessings throughout the Easter Season. You and all the parishioners are being remembered in our daily prayers of gratitude. We also pray that more families from your parish will choose to send their children to St. Peter Martyr School so we may partner with them in their children s academic and spiritual development. Respectfully yours in Christ, Mr. Joe Siino, Principal More Thank You s to the members of our Art & Environment Committee who did such a beautiful job of creating the environment for the Fourth through the Seventh Sundays of Easter: Nancy DiMaggio, Denise Moss, Carole Miller, Tom and Stevie Catchings, Don Benson, Jose Palomino, Harlan Young and Rich Confetti. to our faithful volunteer parishioners who came early on Saturday morning to clean and prepare the both the parish hall and church for the weekend: Carole Miller, Mency Osborne, Angela Bueno, Cathy Romeo, Rose Salamanca, Steve Rojek, Jun Bajet, and Jack Goncalves....to our faithful volunteers who also came to clean and prepare the bathrooms in both the church and parish hall, as well as maintaining them throughout the week: Robert Goncalves, Steve Rojek, Mary Ewing, Patricia Britton, Virginia Noack, and Harlan Young. to Dilcia Aparacio who does such an excellent job of washing, ironing, and caring for the Sacred Linens. to our Sacristans and Altar Guild who prepare the sanctuary for the celebration of Eucharist each week: Peter Degl Innocenti, Pam and Rich Confetti, Vincent Rodriguez, Harlan Young, Rowena Cayaban, Monika Kauer, Cynthia Enrique, Belen Farin, Nancy Santos and Rose Salamanca. to our counting teams who are here every week to count the weekly collections. to our volunteers who assisted in the parish office last week: Jeannine Ford, Harlan Young, Melodye Costanza, Yvette Young, Alicia Perez, Joe Fanfa and Bev Iacona. to our St. Vincent de Paul and Mobile Mall volunteers who transported last week s donations: Bob Carvalho and Barbara Jackson. to our faithful weekly bulletin assembly team: Bob Carvalho, Carole Miller, Dave Costanza, Judy Quicho, Belen Farin and Dilcia Aparicio. to our wonderful Parking Lot Security who keep watch over our vehicles during weekend liturgies: Steve Rojek, Don Benson, Jose Palomino, Bob Goncalves and various members of the Knights of Columbus. Maîtres des Hauts de France Mark your summer calendars now for Sunday, July 23 rd at 7:30 p.m. St. Ignatius of Antioch will host The French Boys Choir, Young Singers of Lambersart under the direction of Jerome Cupelli. This is going to be a unique event in the history of our parish. Watch my insert and the bulletin for more details. 4
Norway Trip Set Last week, I met with Linda Grelli from Black Diamond Travel and we discussed the different possibilities for a trip to Scandinavia. We decided on a 16 day trip that will take us to Copenhagen and Denmark, followed by touring Sweden, and concluding in Norway. The cities to be visited include: Copenhagen, Roskilde, Stockholm, Sigtuna, Uppsala, Falun, Dales and Lakes to Lillehammer, Geiranger, Fjaerland, Fjordland, Leikanger, The Flam Railway to Bergen, Mountains and Fjords to Oslo where the trip will conclude. We will fly on SAS round trip from San Francisco. The tentative dates are from August 8, 2018 to August 24, 2018. Because of the fluctuation of the dollar, we are not yet able to give you the price of the airfare and land portion of the trip. I am only able to take 30 people. If you are interested in going, please speak with me and I will place your name on the list. Once we know how many are going, I will arrange a meeting to discuss all the details. The tour is arranged through Insite Tours which is an outstanding company with whom I have traveled in the past. 5